Justin Olam #281

Mighty_Tiger said:
Agree. I think the retention of Seyfarth over him was a roster mistake.

What’s done is done. Hope Blore has an injury free run and nails it. He seems to be committed & has some talent.
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Completely agree. Fail to see how Seyfarth offers more then Blore but I guess we gotta back Benji on this one.... I think we'll end up regretting this.
 
Mighty_Tiger said:
I get prioritizing juniors but we need to make sure they’re the right ones as well over the kids we bring in - if we don’t no good young talent will want to join the club.

The move is done so lets hope Seyfarth steps up another few gears to be a NRL quality forward. We have invested alot of time into him.
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Andrew Webster was interested...
I think he's a low price squad filler.

That's where his value lies I'd say.
 
Kaito said:
Man, I try not think about it but just this morning
I was thinking about how we're bound to lose
1 or 2 out of Galvin, Latu/Large having just spent
big money on our marquee half. Having said
that, I'm hopeful we can keep them all some
how. Obviously monitor and keep the most
promising out of the 3. Only positive is that
they're all at different ages & developmental
stages at this moment. Latu next, Large could
come out in a year or 2, I'd want to take our time
with Galvin. I don't see him wanting to play
centre long term - he'll be looking 4 halves money,
maybe even 2nd row, who knows. It's a good
problem to have just a bit enervating. We have
to find some success on the field in the next
few years, keep them & fit them in somewhere.
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They need to be given a clear path and the right info to see that staying is in their best Interests.
Pezet is 21 next week, Still signed at the Storm for at least 2 years (23)
obviously behind 2 of the best halves in the game...

For mine, He could have got a starting spot and more money elsewhere - Based on how he's rated.
But the Storm have convinced him it's in his best interests to stay.

Our kids are staggered enough in their development, to work around it....
That said - There's 1 too many...
Sullivan seems the most likely to be moved on at a glance.

We're not the Storm though,
They'll all be hard to keep if we don't start winning.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Completely agree. Fail to see how Seyfarth offers more then Blore but I guess we gotta back Benji on this one.... I think we'll end up regretting this.
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What I would hate to see - Is Seyfarth going on to play 24 Games this year....
That would be heartbreaking, And prove there was a spot in the 17 to prioritise Blore.
(I feel it's exactly what will happen)

Blore is a leader, who can make an impact, Alex is a tryer that doesn't....
The difference in pay packets just wouldn't have been enough to loose Blore.
Alex should have Fainu Snr spot in the squad - and Blore should have been prioritised over Alex.

We've lived with plenty of mistakes, We'll live with this one as well....
 
batboy said:
They need to be given a clear path and the right info to see that staying is in their best Interests.
Pezet is 21 next week, Still signed at the Storm for at least 2 years (23)
obviously behind 2 of the best halves in the game...

For mine, He could have got a starting spot and more money elsewhere - Based on how he's rated.
But the Storm have convinced him it's in his best interests to stay.

Our kids are staggered enough in their development, to work around it....
That said - There's 1 too many...
Sullivan seems the most likely to be moved on at a glance.

We're not the Storm though,
They'll all be hard to keep if we don't start winning.
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Spot on. Good dissection of the situation, I concur
 
this is not about Blore v Seyfarth at all. WT see Blore as a bench middle, Melbourne see him as a starting backrower. we need outside backs, they need forwards. the swap makes sense for both parties.

Blore wants to play in his position of choice, and quite frankly good on him. i personally don’t see him as a backrower, his lateral movement isn’t NRL standard and he doesn’t possess the attacking skilset, but Belza certainly knows far more than I do.

as for Seyfarth, he’s a low value utility forward that can do a job if called upon. ideally he’s nowhere near your 17, but for now he may be able to bridge the gap and play at a first grade standard while the Laulili’is and Fa’agutus of the world develop.
 
jrtiger said:
but Belza certainly knows far more than I do.
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That's the thing for mine. Bellamy has been chasing Blore & has been chasing Blore hard so that obviously tells you something straight away. He's also happy to see the back of Olam although he's easily better then any centre we have so there's that.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
That's the thing for mine. Bellamy has been chasing Blore & has been chasing Blore hard so that obviously tells you something straight away. He's also happy to see the back of Olam although he's easily better then any centre we have so there's that.
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Melbourne always sign the freakish schoolboy talents, even if they fall by the wayside in their mid 20s. they seem to be attracted to something, most likely their mindset. Blore fits that mould.

Olam’s cap related, and a little to do with his age. they obviously think they’re better off with the centres they have to free up money elsewhere and in this day and age that’s pretty important.

if Bellamy was truly done with Olam then why did he recall him for their semi and prelim finals last year?
 
jrtiger said:
if Bellamy was truly done with Olam then why did he recall him for their semi and prelim finals last year?
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Did you watch those games tho? Particularly the prelim final? Penrith deliberately targeted him in defence & gave him an absolute bath. Looking back at that game there is a slight cause for concern imo
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Did you watch those games tho? Particularly the prelim final? Penrith deliberately targeted him in defence & gave him an absolute bath. Looking back at that game there is a slight cause for concern imo
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They were ravaged by injury as I recall. May have not been ready to perform at that level in relation to his recovery. But overall his whole season was below par, and we need the Olam of 2022 and prior to get any value from him.
 
WesternSuburbsBoy said:
Did you watch those games tho? Particularly the prelim final? Penrith deliberately targeted him in defence & gave him an absolute bath. Looking back at that game there is a slight cause for concern imo
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You been watching the game in the last 4 years? Penrith giving everyone a bath....
Imagine they were playing us with our AJ / Nofa combo on the edge!!

I think there is some merit in what you're saying...
JAC used to cover for him a bit, But he's still far better than anything we have - In a very limited market.
Super experienced, And he's a winner....
Watch his highlights for the half a dozen games in ressies last year - I said back then, If he was doing that in reserve grade for the Tigers, This forum would be screaming for him to be in NRL at Co-Captain.
 
It's probably telling that both Robbie & Heighno love Big Red.

Every club needs that honest guy you can always rely on. Seyfarth is judged harshly on here.

Unlike all the other #13's we have used- Seyfarth is also the only one to consistently offer an unload in traffic.
 
Blore played very well in most of his NSW Cup games throughout the 2023 season which he played mostly as a second rower and was only as a middle forward for very small amounts of time.
He then made a good line break and looked much more dangerous than our regulars when finally given a chance to play as a second rower at NRL level late in the season.
I don’t know where the evidence that he struggled defensively comes from, he was not missing tackles or out of position ?
Seyfarth is a totally different player, who has played most of his game time as a middle forward over the past few years, excelled when playing NSW Cup and went very well when given NRL opportunities throughout 2023 and nobody can deny that no matter how much they dislike him.
Ideally we should have sent Bateman packing back to the UK with his 750k wage and re-signed Blore on around 300 - 350k which would have saved us 400k in Salary Cao space.
 
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People say the money is too much. Don't forget we were paying a busted Chris Lawrence about the same and people never cared. Olam is twice the player.
 
batboy said:
Minimum wager is 150 odd, And that's only for the bottom 4 of the top 30...
Seyfarth is a couple years in, You'd think he'd be on the 200k mark Minimum
Even if Blore was 400k, For the extra 200k
- I'm keeping Blore.
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Fair enough.

Hypothetically, Seyfarth on around 200 is great for depth. Is solid. Great attitude and has a decent amount of experience.

Personally a little disappointed Blore is moving on but getting better centres is more important to me. I’m optimistic olam will find his mojo again.
 
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